Publishers Weekly
★ 01/22/2024
Podemski, an urban planner for the city of Los Angeles, debuts with an expansive history of North American housing design. Drawing on examples from nine cities—Boston, Chicago, Houston, L.A., New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Ore., and Vancouver—he outlines how and why certain types of buildings were used for housing in each place, noting both design advantages and drawbacks. For example, the small size of Philadelphia’s row houses “force people out of their homes and into the public realm” and led to a vibrant street culture. Meanwhile, New Orleans’s susceptibility to flooding and disease resulted in houses “marked by openness to the outdoors” and designed to emphasize airflow, which was increased by elevating them one story into the air. Though he notes the benefits of attractive newer designs, such as Vancouver’s point towers, which are surrounded by shorter buildings to preserve air and light, Podemski decries the myopic planning choices of Vancouver and other cities, arguing that by “still banning smaller, more affordable housing options,” they continue to exacerbate the affordability crisis. His intelligent analysis and deep research lend strength to his conclusion that what is required to solve the housing crisis is not just more large-scale urban developments but the deregulation of what was once common—small-scale urban home-building by local businesses and families drawing on regional design traditions. It’s a must-read for housing advocates. (Mar.)This review has been edited for clarity.
From the Publisher
His intelligent analysis and deep research lend strength to his conclusion that what is required to solve the housing crisis is not just more large-scale urban developments but the deregulation of what was once common—small-scale urban home-building by local businesses and families drawing on regional design traditions. It’s a must-read for housing advocates.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“[Podemski’s] argument is convincing. A thoughtful history of affordable housing that establishes the basis for reasoned discussion and well-informed policy.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“The real treat is Mr. Podemski’s histories of each building type, which trace the interplay of engineering, economics, culture and even morality. . . .This is a valuable book despite such small flaws. At a moment when housing-policy battles can seem deadlocked, 'A Paradise of Small Houses' conveys a tonic sense of what is, or has been, possible.”
—Timothy Farrington, Wall Street Journal
“Through this beautifully written and illustrated rich history of everyday houses that form our communities and neighborhoods, Max Podemski shares an insightful account of American cities and their urban development that will greatly appeal to architects, urban designers, planners, historians, housing advocates, and urbanists interested in just cities.”
—Vinit Mukhija, author of Remaking the American Dream: The Informal and Formal Transformation of Single-Family Housing Cities
“If you love visiting, exploring, and thinking about American cities as much as I do, A Paradise of Small Houses is an indispensable travel companion. With this book, Max Podemski has fashioned a fantastic new lens through which to view the history and politics of redlining, zoning, housing affordability, urban design, and so much more. But mainly, the book is just plain fun.”
—Ray Delahanty, creator of CityNerd
“From Boston’s triple-deckers to LA’s dingbats, Max Podemski shows not only the enduring beauty and charm of small houses but the essential role they play in the affordability and livability of American cities.”
—William Fulton, former director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University and author of Guide to California Planning
“If an author writes about the history and future of urban housing, and has references I didn’t know about, I have to read further. If the book not only tells me things I didn’t know about urban housing but also a new frame for thinking about it, well then, that’s worth paying for. Max’s book is worth it.”
—Gordon Price, former Vancouver city council member and founder and former director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University
Kirkus Reviews
2023-11-18
A history of the “common everyday houses” that have served large numbers of working- and middle-class households in the U.S.
Podemski—author, illustrator, and transportation planner for Los Angeles—dreams of affordable housing that’s light-filled and spacious, connects people to their neighbors, fits seamlessly into mixed-use and walkable neighborhoods, and has “the potential to change and adapt.” He seeks “a diversity of housing at a range of scales that reflect the unique circumstances of individual neighborhoods.” Chronicling his travels in a host of American cities and Vancouver, British Columbia, he focuses on specific housing types in each, including shotgun houses in New Orleans, bungalows in Portland, Oregon, and multifamily triple-deckers in Boston. The L.A. dingbat, built in the 1950s and 1960s, is two floors of wood-framed, stucco-clad apartments hovering over parking spaces, while the Philadelphia row house, constructed when the city industrialized, is a narrow, brick-clad, three-story home meant for the working class. With the exception of Houston, whose anemic land-use controls have given rise to wide, two-story town houses sitting above a two-car garage and crowding their lots, the author praises his examples for serving the needs of owners and renters and encouraging neighborliness. Podemski also offers a brief history of each city’s spatial development and considers the precursors and successors to each housing type. Despite his implicit interest in what can be mass produced, he includes two bespoke examples: Tiny Tower (three levels on a 12-by-20-foot footprint) in Philadelphia and 3106 St. Thomas Street (10.5 by 45 feet, metal clad, one story) in New Orleans. Podemski makes two important points: First, the vibrancy of a neighborhood depends on its type of housing; second, housing affordability is dependent on lot size and housing type. His argument is convincing.
A thoughtful history of affordable housing that establishes the basis for reasoned discussion and well-informed policy.
